Commentary: Access to Psychedelics for Psychological Suffering at the End of Life - Prioritizing Our Priorities.
Daniel Rosenbaum, Sarah Hales, Daniel Z Buchman
Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante May 1, 2023 DOI: 10.12927/hcpol.2023.27047 via PubMed
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractPsychedelic therapies show promise for psychological suffering at the end of life, but focusing too much on them may exaggerate the current evidence and pull resources from proven programs. The more urgent policy priority is to fix inequities in access to early, high-quality palliative and psychosocial care. Any discussion of expanding psychedelic access must also center equity concerns.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 5 |
| Key finding | Disproportionate attention to psychedelics may overstate the evidence base and divert resources from existing evidence-based palliative care programs, and equity issues must be foregrounded in discussions of expanded access. |
Abstract
We agree with Kratina et al. (2023) that the problem of psychological suffering at the end of life deserves attention from a policy standpoint and that psychedelic therapies show promise in this clinical context. However, we argue the following in this rejoinder: (1) disproportionate attention to psychedelics may overstate the current evidence base, potentially diverting resources away from existing evidence-based programs; (2) a more pressing policy priority related to this public health problem is to address population-level inequities in accessing high-quality, early and holistic palliative care, including psychosocial care; and (3) discussions about expanded access to psychedelics must also foreground equity issues.